Caffeine Cycling: Get MORE from Caffeine?!
Caffeine is a drug. As with other drugs, some of its effects diminish with time, at which point a higher dose is required. This is
known as tolerance. You may have experienced this yourself, as it has probably been a while since you experienced the euphoria of your first cup of coffee.
The tricky thing about caffeine is that it has many sites of action, and thus different mechanisms by which it exerts its psychophysiological effects. This becomes important when discussing tolerance,
especially as it applies to performance. If we build up tolerance and require higher doses for the euphoric effect, but do not require such doses for performance benefit, then we would have to get clear on our priority. And, as you can probably the guess, this seems to be the case.
A Little Science...
One of caffeine's primary mechanisms is its blocking of adenosine receptors, which is one of its "anti-fatigue" mechanisms, specifically the Adenosine A1 receptor subtype (which I will come back to in a moment). But, there are also other mechanisms, including sympathetic nervous system stimulation, phosphodiesterase inhibition, increased intracellular cAMP, mobilisation of calcium, and
more...
Gary, just tell me what to do?!
Okay, okay. Let me give you one more piece of important information first!
I mentioned the Adenosine A1 receptors, which is how caffeine can promote wakefulness / stave off fatigue.
However, its effect on Adenosine A2(a) receptors is different, and it is this class of receptors that are thought to be responsible for the
euphoric mood-boost caffeine provides, mediated by dopamine release.
The reason I am detailing this is
to illustrate the fact that you may still be getting some of the benefits of caffeine even when you don't feel it working in the same way that it did previously. Therefore, our first conclusion is:
If you consume caffeine for the feeling, especially that feeling of euphoria, regular desensitisation is probably wise,
as this effect is unlikely to be preserved.
What About Performance?
